Group Date
by allyxocorbin
Summary: When Chad's girlfriend Taylor and her bestfriend Gabriella decide that he and Taylor need to go on a double date with Gabriella and her boyfriend Troy, Chad invites Sharpay and the others in hopes that the date will get canceled. Mostly Chaylor w/others
1. Chapter 1

**_Note: _**This is my first story posted here on and it's also my first HSM story, though I have been writing for a few years now. I'd love to hear what you guys think of my story... I'll try to update soon.

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own any of the characters and I don't know any of the actors.

**_Couples: _**Troy/Gabriella, Chad/Taylor, Zeke/Sharpay, Jason/Kelsi, Ryan/Martha

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**Chapter 1**

Chad Danforth leaned back in his chair and slipped his arm around his girlfriend Taylor McKessie's shoulder. She took her eyes away from the movie screen and smiled up at him before she leaned into his embrace.

Friday night was Chad's favorite night of the week for multiple reasons: it began the two days away from his wacked out homeroom teacher Ms. Darbus, two days sleep in as late as he wanted, two days to goof off with his boys and time to hang out with his favorite girl.

While he and Taylor sat in the dark movie theatre watching a movie, his best friend Troy Bolton was on a date with Taylor's best friend Gabriella Montez and his other friends Zeke Baylor and Jason Cross were out on dates with their significant others. Unlike Jason's girlfriend Kelsi Nielson, who everyone loved, Zeke's girlfriend Sharpay Evans was East High's resident drama queen and got on everyone's last nerve. Even Sharpay's twin brother Ryan confessed that he wanted to stuff a sock in her mouth on more than one occasion.

After the movie ended, Chad escorted Taylor to the ice cream shop on the other side of the mall.

"Oh, look, Troy and Gabriella are here," Taylor informed him as they walked into the shop. "I'm going to go say hi to them, you know what I like."

She rushed off as Chad got in line to order two ice cream cones, one with chocolate chip cookie dough for himself and one with mint chocolate chip for Taylor. He ordered, paid then watched as the employee scooped ice cream into the cones. Then he took them and headed towards the table that Troy, Gabriella and Taylor were seated at.

"Here you go, Tay," he said as he handed her the ice cream cone. "Hey guys."

"Thanks," Taylor smiled. "Hey, don't you think it would be fun to go out on a double date with Troy and Gabi?"

Chad paused in mid-bite and looked at his best friend, unsure how to answer.

"It could be fun," Troy said with a shrug.

"Uh, sure, I guess," Chad stated, hoping nobody could sense the uneasiness in his voice.

"We better go, Gabi," Troy said, glancing at his watch. "It's almost eleven."

"I'll call you tomorrow," Gabriella said, giving Taylor a hug. "We'll plan the big date."

"Video games at my house tomorrow?" Troy asked Chad as they did the crazy handshake that had become second nature to them.

"Oh yeah," Chad nodded. "And lemme tell you this, you're going down!"

"Psh," Troy said, giving Chad a playful shove. "Ain't never happened before!"

"I'll call Jason and Zeke," Chad offered as Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand. "What time should we be there?"

"Two o'clock," Troy replied. "See ya."

"We should probably go too," Taylor stated as Chad sat down to eat his, now melting, ice cream cone.

Chad looked at his pathetic ice cream cone then dropped it in the cup Troy had left on the table; his mom would blow a fuse if he showed up late for curfew again. "Let's go." He picked up the cup and threw it way then took Taylor's hand and led her out of the ice cream shop.

Taylor chattered non-stop about the upcoming double date as they walked out to the parking lot, she didn't even stop when Chad unlocked the passenger door of his used, 2001 Jeep Wrangler, helped her in and shut the door. He shook his head as he rounded the jeep then climbed in. He turned on the radio and flipped to her favorite station, but she kept talking.

"Chad? Is everything okay?" Taylor asked as he pulled up in front of her house. "You're really quiet tonight."

"Uh, yeah," Chad nodded, forcing a smile on to his face. "Just listening to your ideas for our double date with Troy and Gabriella."

"I'm so excited," Taylor gushed as began to talk quickly about what she might wear and where she thought they should go.

Chad climbed out of the jeep and opened her door. He grabbed her hand to help her down then walked her up to her front door.

"I had a great time tonight, Chad," Taylor smiled. "And you were right, the movie we saw tonight was really good. I never really liked Kate Hudson, but now I-"

Chad cut her off by placing his full lips onto hers then pulled away a few seconds later. "Goodnight," he whispered before he casually walked back to his jeep. Once inside, he turned on the engine and switched the station to a local hip-hop station and drove the five blocks to his house. He pulled into the drive way and walked into his house with thirty seconds to spare. "MOM, I'M HOME," he called.

"How was your date with Taylor?" His mom asked. "Was the movie good?"

"It was good, mom," Chad shrugged. "The movie was pretty good too."

"Troy called five minutes ago and said he already called Jason and Zeke," his mom told him. "He said something about seeing you tomorrow?"

"Oh right, mom, can I hang out with the guys tomorrow afternoon?" Chad asked, giving her a large smile.

"You may, as long as you get your homework done and mow the lawn first," she said.

"Ah, mom," he groaned. "That'll take _forever_."

"Not if you get up before noon," she smiled. "Now, I'm going to bed, so don't stay up too late."

"Yes ma'am," Chad sighed. When his mom disappeared down the hall, he went into the kitchen and made himself a ham and turkey sandwich then settled in front of the TV.

He wondered if Troy was as uneasy about the double date as he was. Though having known Troy since they were 3 or 4, Chad doubted it. Troy had no problems showing that he was a man of many sides, especially since he and Gabriella had starred in _Twinkle Towne_. But Troy didn't care what people thought of him and if he did, he didn't show it.

But Chad had always been the sporty guy, always playing some sport, the first one to see the action flicks and always listening to hip-hop, but when he started dating Taylor he found another side to himself. When he was with Taylor, he could be himself and used her as an excuse to go to the movie theatre to see the romantic comedies he enjoyed and often blamed her for the station his radio was on if one of the guys got into his jeep. He could only imagine the teasing he would get if his friends found out the truth… they'd never let him live down the fact that it was him who choose to watch the chick flicks while Taylor was more into the action packed movies.

That's why they would never find out. This date couldn't happen… he just had to figure out a way to get it canceled and not have it be rescheduled, without hurting anybody in the process.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Note:_** I want to give a quick thanks to everyone who commented on Chapter 1, I was so surprised by the amount of feedback that I decided to post the next chapter... I'll try to post chapter 3 tomorrow then see if I can write some more.

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**Chapter 2**

Saturday afternoon, Chad parked his jeep in front of Troy's house and let himself in the front door, as he had been doing for as long as he could remember.

"Hello Chad," Troy's mom greeted him. "The boys are out on the basketball court."

"Thanks Mrs. Bolton," Chad smiled before heading to the backyard. He found Troy, Jason and Zeke playing basketball with Troy's dad, Jack Bolton or as they all referred to him Coach.

"Chad, you can take my place," Coach Bolton said when he spotted Chad. "You guys are getting too good for me."

"Nah, you just need to start doing the suicides you make us do," Zeke said as he stole the ball from him.

"Why do they call them suicides?" Jason asked as Zeke dribbled past him. Troy and Chad groaned. "What?"

"Let's play some ball," Zeke shook his head. "Chad, you're on Troy's team. But me and the genius here get the ball first."

"Do you guys want a handicap while you're at it?" Chad offered as he pulled off his t-shirt.

"Very funny," Zeke rolled his eyes.

Zeke dribbled the ball and was headed for the basket when Troy slapped the ball away from him and Chad grabbed the ball and raced towards the other side of the court. He leaped into the air and slammed the ball through the net while hanging off the rim. He jumped down and he and Troy did their handshake.

"Chad Danforth, how many times have I told you not to hang off the rims," they all turned at the sound of Mrs. Bolton's voice. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"Sorry, Mrs. Bolton," Chad smiled sheepishly. "It won't happen again." She shook her head and went back into the house, knowing that she'd have to remind him again.

Two basketball games later, the four guys went into the house in search of food, but Mrs. Bolton shooed them out of her kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in an hour," she informed them. "If you're hungry, you may all have apples."

The boys sighed and went to Troy's bedroom. While Jason and Zeke set up Troy's Playstation, Chad and Troy snuck into Troy's dad's home office and grabbed the bag of potato chips from his stash in the bottom drawer of his desk then raced back to Troy's room to avoid being caught.

"Man, I wish our girlfriends got along," Zeke said as he set his controller aside after winning a game.

"They do," Troy, Chad and Jason chimed.

"Okay, I wish my girlfriend got along with your girlfriends," Zeke sighed. "It would make life a lot easier. Then we could all do things together."

A smile spread across Chad's face as Zeke's words sunk into his head. He had an out and it would work out great! Taylor and Gabriella didn't like Sharpay and Sharpay didn't like them.

"Well, Gabriella and Taylor are planning a double date," Chad informed him.

"Oh! Do you think they would let Sharpay and I come along too?" Zeke asked. "And Jason and Kelsi?"

"I don't know," Troy said, shooting a "what are you doing" look at Chad. "I think they just wanted it to be the four of us."

"But think of how much fun it would be if we were all there together," Chad said. "We could invite Ryan and Martha, too."

"This will be totally awesome!" Zeke exclaimed. "And I can make dessert for everyone. Sharpay loves my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies."

"We gotta go, Zeke," Jason said, putting his controller down. "I have to be home for dinner in like five minutes. Later guys."

"Tell Gabriella and Taylor that Sharpay will call them," Zeke told Troy and Chad before following Jason out of the room.

Once they were gone, Troy slugged Chad in the arm. "Why did you do that?!" He exclaimed. "Gabriella is going to _freak_! Not to mention what Taylor is going to do to you!"

"Troy, this is our out!" Chad exclaimed. "We won't have to do this stupid double date thing! The girls will cancel it when they find out Sharpay is coming and they won't want to reschedule it."

"I don't know about Taylor, but this double date was all Gabi talked about when I took her home last night, Chad," Troy stated. "She was really excited about it and now you've just messed everything up."

"Hey guys, dinner is ready," Troy's dad said as he came into the room. "You staying for dinner, Chad?"

"No, he has to go home," Troy told his dad.

"Yeah what he said," Chad sighed. "See ya later, Troy."

"Everything okay?" Chad heard Troy's dad ask.

"Yeah everything is perfect," Troy replied, sarcastically.

Chad left the Bolton's house and climbed into his jeep. He drove home and found a note from his mom on the fridge.

_Chad,_

_Hope you had a good dinner with Bolton's. I went out to dinner with friends from work. Should be home by 11pm._

_Love,_

_Mom_

Chad sighed and opened the freezer. He pulled out a frozen meal then threw it into the microwave. He leaned against the counter as he waited for his food and wondered how he had read Troy so wrong. He thought Troy hadn't wanted this as much as he hadn't, but now Troy was mad at him. He didn't even want to imagine how Taylor would react when she found out what he'd done. He could only hope that Sharpay was repulsed by the idea of going out on a group date with them all.

When the microwave dinged, Chad took his TV dinner out and carried it into the TV room. He set it on the coffee table and was in the kitchen getting a pop when the doorbell rang. He set the pop can on the counter and went to answer the door.

He gulped when he saw Taylor standing on the other side of the door, with her hands on her hips. "Hi, Tay," he said, forcing a smile.

"You invited Sharpay!" She exclaimed, pushing her way into the house. "Why did you invite Sharpay?!"

"Gabi called you?" Chad said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"No, Gabi doesn't know yet," Taylor replied. "Troy called me because he didn't know what to say to Gabriella." She clenched her hands. "Why would you do this, Chad! Why would you invite Sharpay?! You don't even like Sharpay… the only one that does is Zeke… and even that is something I don't understand."

"I'm sorry?" Chad offered, meekly.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Taylor shrieked. "I was really looking forward to this date, Chad." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Now I don't even know if it'll happen."

"Please don't cry," Chad sighed.

"Just tell me why you did it, Chad," Taylor said. "I'll try to understand."

Chad sighed then took a deep breath. "It's just that the guys think I'm all macho," he told her. "But when I'm with you, I'm a different guy and I'm not macho."

"You did this because you're afraid of looking un-macho around your friends?!" Taylor exclaimed, going from sad to mad. "You are such... such a lunkhead basketball player, Chad Danforth!" She turned on her heel and marched out of the house.

Chad slammed the front door after her then pounded his head against the it. What was he going to do now?


	3. Chapter 3

**_Note:_** I'm so sorry I didn't update yesterday!! I bought the first season of Flight 29 Down and it got here yesterday and I spent all afternoon yesterday and a few hours today watching it... that show is addictive! But anyway... here's chapter three and I'm going to go work on chapter four. In case you're wondering, I don't plan on there being more than ten chapters of this story.

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**Chapter 3**

Taylor paced across her bedroom floor as she waited for Gabriella to arrive on Sunday morning. She wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to her best friend that Chad had invited the others and Sharpay to be a part of their double date.

_Stupid boy disease_, she thought as the doorbell rang. She opened her bedroom door and listened as her dad greeted Gabriella and let her into the house.

"Taylor is upstairs in her room," Mr. McKessie told Gabriella.

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled before running up the stairs. She found Taylor standing in the doorway of her room. "Hey, I got your phone call, what's up?"

"Chad invited Sharpay," Taylor blurted then stopped her feet.

"To what?" Gabriella asked, confused.

"My lunkhead boyfriend didn't want to go on the double date so he decided that we would cancel it if Sharpay was there," Taylor rolled her eyes. "So he invited Jason and Zeke to come along with Kelsi and Sharpay."

"Why didn't he want to go on the double date?" Gabriella asked.

"You know how I told you that he really likes romantic comedies and he's started listening to the soft rock station I love?" Gabriella nodded. "Well apparently he doesn't want his friends to know because he thinks they'll tease him for being un-macho."

"That's ridiculous, Troy wouldn't tease him," Gabriella stated. "Neither would Zeke and Jason."

"Yeah well the lunkhead thinks differently," Taylor sighed. "So what are we going to do? We can't have this group date… I mean, Sharpay will turn it into a disaster."

"Well, we could," Gabriella smiled as she rubbed her chin. "You say Chad doesn't want his friends to know he likes those things right? Well what if we showed him that his friends like them too."

"How?" Taylor asked, arching her eyebrows.

"Call Kelsi and Martha," Gabriella told her. "I'll call Sharpay. The Wildcat boys are going to get a wake up call."

An hour later, Taylor, Gabriella, Kelsi and Martha were sitting in Taylor's room when Sharpay sashayed through the door. "Okay, the group date planning can begin," she declared, dropping her oversized and over-beaddazzled purse on the ground. "I've got a million ideas. We start with-"

"Sharpay, sit," Gabriella ordered as she stood up. Sharpay umphed and sat down with her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. "Thank you." She cleared her throat. "We need to come up with an idea for a group date and when I say we I mean _all_ of us."

"We could go to that new pizza place in town," Martha suggested.

"I don't eat pizza," Sharpay stated. "There's too much fat."

Taylor rolled her eyes and wrote pizza place on the white board over her desk. "Okay, any other ideas?" She asked.

"Bowling is fun," Kelsi said. "Ryan and I went on Friday night. There were a lot of people there though."

"There's always the movies," Gabriella suggested. "Oh and roller skating would be fun."

"What about you, Sharpay? Do you have any ideas?" Taylor asked after writing down the ideas.

"We could have a dinner party," Sharpay shrugged. "We could dress up and stuff-"

"That's perfect!" Taylor exclaimed then clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry." She giggled. "But that's a great idea, Sharpay, I really like it."

Sharpay's jaw dropped. "You do?" She asked.

"Yeah," Taylor nodded. "Where could we have it though?"

"My house is too small," Gabriella shrugged. "Mrs. Bolton might let us use her house."

"We could use mine," Sharpay offered. "My mom is always looking for an excuse to throw a party. She has wanted to try out this new catering service, but doesn't want to try them out on a big party."

"Your parents would let us do that?" Gabriella asked.

"Of course, they let me do what ever I want," Sharpay shrugged. "Well, within reason."

"So why don't we split up for now," Taylor suggested. "Sharpay, find out if it's okay with you mom that we do this and if it is find out what day is best for you. And everyone think of ideas of things we could do-"

"Kelsi could play the piano while we eat," Sharpay suggested.

"Uh, hello, I was invited to this thing too," Kelsi reminded her. "But I could put together a CD or something."

"That'd be great, Kelsi," Gabriella smiled. "Make it stuff we all like, including the guys, because then when they don't think anybody is listening they'll start singing along and Chad will realize that none of his friends are real macho men and he doesn't have to make them think he is macho all the time."

"Wait, is this why we're having a party, because Chad thinks he has to be macho all the time?" Sharpay scoffed. "How dumb is that!"

"We're having this party because we want to show Chad that we all care about him," Taylor replied, starting to feel bad that she'd left his house so angry yesterday. "We need to let him know that it's okay for him to be himself all the time." She sighed. "Look guys, I gotta go. I'll call you later."

Taylor ran down the stairs and hollered to her mom that she would be back soon then raced out to her car. She drove over to Chad's house and found him shooting baskets out front. He glanced over when she got out of her car then went back to shooting.

"I'm sorry for calling you a lunkhead basketball player," Taylor told him. "I didn't mean it." When he didn't respond she walked over to him and grabbed his arm. "Chad, I mean it. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have made plans with Gabi until I knew that it was something you wanted to do."

"You're right you shouldn't have," he said. "But I shouldn't have invited the others without letting you and Gabi know first."

"Oh don't worry about that," Taylor smiled. "We've got it all worked out now."

"You do?" Chad asked, looking at her confused.

"Yup," she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck. "If you don't have a tux, I suggest you buy one." Then with another quick peck, she raced back to her car, leaving Chad standing in his driveway confused.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Note:_** I want to thank everyone for the flood-like reviews that have come in over the last 24 hours. It was a huge motivation and I'm happy to announce that you get an update today, tomorrow and Monday for sure and who knows, maybe I'll finish writing the story today! But of course, I'm going to make you wait cause there are some little cliff hangers... nothing too crazy of course but yeah... Anyway... enjoy the chapter!!!

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**Chapter 4**

"A tux?" Troy repeated, pulling his infamous confused look. "Why would you need a tux?"

"Like I've said a thousand times, I don't attempt to understand the female mind, Troy," Chad said. "It's –"

"-foreign territory, yeah, I know," Troy finished. "Maybe you should track down your girlfriend and ask her what's going on while I'm out with-" He stopped when heard his cell phone buzz. He pulled it out of his pocket and opened the new text message.

_T, Emergency science club meeting, gotta cancel! Sorry, G_

"Okay, never mind," Troy shook his head.

"What?" Chad asked him.

"Gabriella just canceled on me," Troy shrugged. "And since it was for a science meeting-" he swung his arm around Chad's neck. "-you're girlfriend is busy too." He rubbed Chad's hair. "So what should we do this afternoon?"

"We could go to the arcade," Zeke suggested from behind them, causing Troy and Chad to turn around to look at him and Jason. "We had plans with Kelsi and Sharpay, since we didn't have basketball practice, and then like five seconds ago we got text messages saying there was an emergency drama club meeting."

"I guess we're going to the arcade then," Chad shrugged.

"Okay, so my mom said we could have the party next Saturday night," Sharpay said, crossing her legs as she, Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi and Martha sat in the mall's food court. "But she said since she's in the process of planning another party for the week following, that we need to come up with the menu and send it to the catering service."

"Troy loves steak and potatoes," Gabriella said.

"So does Chad," Taylor added. "But I'm not really a fan of red meat."

"We could do sea food," Kelsi suggested.

"Big no on that one," Martha stated. "I'm allergic, especially to shellfish."

"People, people, we don't have to order the same thing," Sharpay pointed out. "We can all order different things."

"But won't that cost a lot of money?" Gabriella asked, looking around the table.

"So?" Sharpay replied. "It's just money."

"Gabriella's right, Sharpay," Taylor said. "Your mom said we could have the party at your house, but we don't need to break the bank to do so." She looked at the pad of paper in front of her. "There has to be some sort of meat that everyone likes."

"What about chicken?" Kelsi suggested. "And if it's not marinated in anything over the top we could like put it on noodles-"

"And salads!" Sharpay exclaimed. "Oh my god, Kelsi. That is a_fabulous_ idea!" She clapped her hands. "Okay, so we have the main course, we need to decide on the hors d'oeuvres, the soup and dessert."

"Do we really need the soup?" Gabriella asked, nervously. "It's kinda hard to eat soup and not drop any on yourself."

"True," Sharpay said, looking off for a second. "Besides, Chad will probably pick up his bowl and drink out of it."

"Sharpay!" Taylor exclaimed. "That was so mean and not true! Chad can be a real gentleman."

"I believe it when I see it," Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Now, back to business; I was thinking sushi for the hors d'oeuvres, but we'll have to check with the chef to see if that will work well with the chicken and for-"

"Why can't we do something simple like nachos?" Martha asked. "That's my favorite appetizer at -"

"We are not having _appetizers_, we are having _hors d'oeuvres_," Sharpay cut her off. "There is no way we're having nachos."

"What about stuffed potato skins?" Gabriella suggested. "I had them at my cousin's wedding and they were to die for. They're filled with cheese and bacon then topped with sour cream. They are so good."

Sharpay crinkled her nose is disgust.

"We could just have salads," Taylor pointed out. "Everybody could pick their own dressings and there could be small bowls of toppings like bacon, cheese, croutons and stuff."

"That's better than anything else suggested," Kelsi mumbled, then forced a smile when Sharpay glared at her. "What did you want to suggest for dessert?"

"Troy Bolton, you're about to get schooled!" Chad exclaimed as he pressed his foot on the accelerator of video racing game he and Troy were playing. A huge smile spread across his face as he sped across the finish line while Troy following a couple seconds later. "Okay, who wants to play the champ next?"

"I have a better idea, let's get food," Zeke suggested, silently muttering to himself that he was sick of Chad's gloating.

"Good idea, Zeke," Chad said, patting his stomach. "The king is starving."

"Didn't the _king_ eat half of his girlfriend's lunch as well as his whole lunch?" Troy asked, shaking his head.

"Yeah, so?" Chad said as they left the arcade and headed towards the mall food court. "I'm still grow-" He stopped in mid-step and Jason ran into him.

"Dude!" Jason exclaimed. "Keep walk-"

"Shh," Chad hissed before pulling his friends into the closest store. "Get down."

"Why?" Troy asked, looking as confused as ever.

"Just do it," Chad said, kneeling down and peering through the window.

"What are we hiding from?" Troy asked him.

"Them." Chad pointed to the five girls sitting at the table.

"Is that?" Troy started.

"Yup." Chad nodded.

"Do we know them?" Jason asked and earned a look from Chad and Troy. "What?"

"Your girlfriend is at that table," Troy told him. "But why are Gabriella and Taylor there and why are they with Sharpay?"

"Give me your cell phone," Chad whispered to Troy. When Troy handed it over, he typed a quick message to Gabriella asking where she was then showed Troy her reply.

_Science club meeting, G_

Troy's face fell and he looked at Chad. "What now?"


	5. Chapter 5

**_Note:_** Since I'm on a writing roll right now, I decided to go ahead and post the next chapter. I'm really excited for this story because it started in a really simple place and it's evolving on it's on... but you guys will just have to wait for that... but anyway. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying the writing process!

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**Chapter 5**

After school the next day, Chad shoved a note into Ryan's locker then headed to the gym for basketball practice.

"Did you talk to him?" Troy asked as they changed into their practice jerseys.

"He wasn't there, but I wrote him a note," Chad replied. "Hopefully he'll get it and meet us here after practice."

Troy nodded, but didn't have a chance to answer because his dad blew his whistle.

"GET OUT HERE," Coach Bolton called into the locker room. "OR YOU'LL BE DOING SUICIDES!"

Chad and Troy exchanged a look then dashed out to the gym.

Ryan whistled as he walked down the hallway to his locker. He opened his locker and was surprised to see a piece of notebook paper flutter to the ground. He bent down and picked it up.

_Ryan, meet me in the gym at 4pm. Chad_

Confused, Ryan glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 3:55. He shoved the note in his backpack and headed to the gym. When he got there, the gym was empty so he tossed is bag onto the bleachers and sat down.

Chad, Troy, Zeke and Jason exited the locker room a few minutes after four and Ryan met them in the middle of the basketball court.

"What's up?" He asked Chad.

"Do you know why your sister, Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi and Martha were at the mall yesterday?" Troy asked him.

"Is this a trick question?" Ryan asked, confused. "Cause I think the obvious answer-"

"They were sitting at a table in the food court," Chad cut him off. "We saw them yesterday-"

"Gabriella told me that she had an emergency science club meeting," Troy added. "And Sharpay and Kelsi told Jason and Zeke there was an emergency drama club meeting-"

"We didn't have a drama club meeting yesterday," Ryan stated.

"That's the point!" Chad exclaimed. "The girls are planning something and they're being sneaky about it."

"So are we going to try and figure out what the girls are planning?" Jason asked and the others glared at him. "Hey! It wasn't a stupid question."

"Have a cookie," Zeke said, holding a bag out to him. "They're snicker doodles."

"Yummy," Jason grinned, grabbing the bag. He took a bite and crumbs fell on the ground.

"Jason!" Coach Bolton yelled as he walked out of the gym. "You know there is no eating in the gym. Go get the broom."

"Ye- yes coach," Jason said. He gave the bag of cookies back to Zeke then ran off to find the broom.

"What's going on here?" Coach Bolton asked as he walked over to where they were standing. "Shouldn't you be getting home to do your chores, Troy?"

"Dad," Troy sighed. "We've got problems."

"Girl problems," Chad specified.

"What type of girl problems?" Coach Bolton asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Gabriella and Taylor wanted to us to go on a double date and Chad invited Jason and Zeke to come along," Troy told his dad. "And Taylor freaked when she found out then she told Chad on Sunday that he needed a tux.

"And then yesterday, Gabriella and I had plans to hang out and she sent me a text message saying she had an emergency science club meeting and Sharpay told Zeke that she had an emergency drama club meeting. So since our girlfriends were in emergency meetings, Chad, Zeke, Jason and I went to the arcade at the mall and when we were going to get food we found the five girls sitting at a table in the food court."

"Then I texted Gabriella on Troy's phone asking where she was and she said she was at her science club meeting," Chad added. "And we could see them sitting in the food court."

"Where were you?" Coach Bolton asked Ryan.

"I was here at school helping Ms. Darbus pick the spring musical," Ryan shrugged. "Sharpay told me she had a headache and Kelsi offered to drive her home."

"So what should we do?" Zeke asked Coach Bolton.

"Did you guys check all your bases?" He asked.

"Our what?" Chad asked.

"Your bases," Coach Bolton repeated. "Holidays, birthdays, special days and, I guess for you guys, school dances?"

"Christmas is still like a month and a half away," Troy said. "And none of them have birthdays during the fall."

"No anniversaries either," Chad added. "Though we all know what Troy and Gabriella will be doing on New Years Eve." He playfully nudged his friend and earned a glare in reply. "Geez, sorry."

"And as for dances, the Harvest dance was a couple weeks ago," Ryan stated. "And there won't be another dance until the Winter Formal the week before Christmas break."

"Then there's only one thing you guys can do," Coach Bolton said and the four guys leaned in. "Ask them." He swung his keys around as the boys leaned back. "I have to go relieve the volleyball coach from the detention room. And Troy, you best get home and get the lawn mowed before your mother gets home." He started to walk away then turned back towards them. "Oh and Chad?"

"Yes Coach?" Chad asked.

"I told your mom I would talk to you about doing your math homework," Coach Bolton said. "So tell her I talked to you and we're under the agreement that if you don't pull your math grade up by December first, you'll sit out the first six games." Chad's jaw dropped. "Maybe you can get Taylor to tell you what's going on when she tutors you or maybe you should ask Gabriella for help."

"So who's going to ask the girls?" Jason asked after Coach Bolton left the gym. He'd already swept up the crumbs and put the broom away.

"We are not asking the girls," Chad stated.

"We're not?" Jason asked. "Why?"

"Because we don't need to ask them when we have our very own spy," Chad looked at Ryan.

"Don't look at me like that," Ryan said, pulling on his collar. "I can't spy on Sharpay."

"Think of it as overhearing," Chad suggested. "You just happened to overhear her talking on the phone 'cause your head was pressed against her door, stuff like that."

"I guess I could try," Ryan said after a second. "She does talk really loud."

"That's the spirit!" Chad clapped him on the back. "Okay, let's get out of here, I hate being in this building when it's not necessary."

After they left the gym, Gabriella stepped out from behind the bleachers and shook her head. She had spotted Ryan going into the gym and followed him in to investigate. She'd heard everything they'd said and she knew she needed to give Sharpay a heads up.

She sent a quick text message to the other four girls then pushed the gym door at the same time Ryan pulled it open. They stared at each other for a second then Gabriella pushed past him and ran off.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Note:_** As promised yesterday, here is the next chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoyed the two chapters I posted yesterday. Tomorrow's update will be posted after I get off work... Enjoy!

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**Chapter 6**

"Of all the low down dirty things those boys have done!" Sharpay exclaimed as she paced across Gabriella's bedroom. "Convincing my own brother to spy on me… ugh!"

After receiving Gabriella's text message, the five girls decided to meet up at Gabriella's house and have an emergency meeting.

"We have to warn your mom," Taylor stated. "What if she tells Ryan something?"

"I've already instructed my mother not to say anything," Sharpay stated. "I told her this was supposed to be a surprise thing, so hopefully she remembers."

"So what do we do now?" Martha asked, looking at the other four.

"We could just tell them what we're planning," Kelsi suggested.

"Oh, we are not giving in," Sharpay shook her head. "If they want Ryan to give them information, information they will get."

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked.

"I'm an actress," Sharpay grinned. "I'll pretend I'm taking to one of you and I'll feed him all sorts of wrong information." She crossed her arms. "And he won't know if I'm lying or telling the truth."

"We weren't alone in the gym this afternoon," Ryan stated as he, Jason, Zeke, Chad and Troy sat in Troy's kitchen.

"What do you mean we weren't alone?" Troy asked him. "There wasn't anybody else there."

"When I went back to get my backpack, Gabriella was leaving the gym," Ryan informed him. "There wasn't enough time between us leaving and me going back for to have gotten in there. Besides, we would have seen her."

"Crap!" Chad exclaimed and slammed his hand against the counter. "Now what?"

"We could just ask them," Jason stated.

"Drop it, Jason, we aren't going to ask them," Chad snapped. 'That's what they want us to do." He looked at Ryan. "It's up to you man."

"But they know by now that I'm supposed to spy," Ryan pointed out.

"Girls forget what they're doing when they get start talking about something they're really into," Chad informed him. "You just have to be ready for anything."

They all jumped when Troy's cell phone vibrated on the counter. He picked it up and read the new text message.

_Who do you like better Teddy Geiger or Ryan Cabrera, G_

"Who?" Troy asked as Chad's phone vibrated.

_Get a bow tie for your tux 3 Tay_

"I ain't wearing no stinking bow tie!" Chad exclaimed as Jason and Zeke's cell phones vibrated.

_French or Italian – Kelsi_

_What color is better pink or purple? Shar_

The five guys exchanged looks and Ryan set his cell phone on the counter. A second later, it too buzzed and he flipped it open.

_Bring your dancing shoes. Martha_

Sharpay smiled as picked up her cell phone and dialed the number of her private phone in the house. She let it ring a couple times before she picked it up.

"Hello? Oh hey Gabriella," she said, talking louder than normal as she walked towards the door to the hall. "I don't think they have any clue what's going on. Yeah I know, I think they'll just love the ballet."

Outside her door, Ryan's eyebrows crossed as he pressed his ear against the door while he held a notebook in his hands. As he listened to his sister talk, he scribbled down what he heard her say to Gabriella. Their conversation went on for about twenty minutes then he heard Sharpay say goodbye to Gabriella and head for the door. He scrambled to his feet and shoved the notebook under the back of his shirt just as her door opened.

"Oh hey Ryan," she smiled, too brightly he noted. "Is dinner ready yet?"

"Uh, I don't know," Ryan replied. "Let me know, okay?"

Sharpay waited until he was in his room before she went downstairs, where she sent a message to Taylor.

_Mission accomplished Shar_

After school on Thursday, Troy, Chad, Jason, Zeke and Ryan met in the boys locker room after the rest of the team and Coach Bolton had left.

"So what did you find out?" Troy asked.

"I had a hard time picking up some of what she was saying," Ryan admitted. "But I did catch a few things."

"And they were," Chad prompted.

"Ballet, escargot, sparkling water and purple table clothes," Ryan said as he looked at his pad of paper.

"Whatever they're planning is going to be weird," Jason stated.

"We've been had!" Chad exclaimed. "There's no way this stuff is real!" He slammed his fist against the closest locker. "UGH!"

"We'll figure something out, Chad," Troy said, patting his friend's shoulder. "But right now I have to get home and mow the lawn, my mom had a fit when she found out I hadn't done it yet."

After stopping at his locker, Ryan walked out to his car and drove home. He parked his car in the garage and entered the house through the mud room. He reached for the door to the kitchen, but stopped when he heard voices.

"Mom, I called the catering people," he heard Sharpay said. "And everything is setup for next Saturday night."

"Is there anything else left to do?" His mom asked.

"We just have to let the boys know," Sharpay replied. "But we could do that at like 3pm on Saturday and they'd be here on time at 6pm."

"Keep in mind that if you want them in tuxes, they'll need at least twenty-four hour notice to rent them," his mom stated. "You don't know how happy it makes me that you're all working together-"

Ryan tuned his mom out as he crept back out to the garage. His fingers moved like they were on fire as he typed a text message to Chad.

_I have info. Tell u tomorrow // Ryan_

He stuffed his phone in his pocket then went into the mud room and made enough noise to alert is mom and Sharpay that he was home. When he entered the kitchen, his mom was looking over a party checklist and Sharpay was watching him closely.

In that moment, Ryan decided to have a little fun with his sister and turned to his mom. "Hey mom, is it cool if I go to Chad's house next Saturday?" He asked. "He's inviting a bunch of the baseball players over so I can meet them." He saw his mom look at Sharpay. "What, do we have plans or something?"

"Or something," Sharpay said before spinning on her heel and leaving the room.

Ryan shrugged and as he went up to his room he sent Chad another text.

_If anyone asks u r having baseball party next Sat. // Ryan_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Note:_** Hope you all had a good day... I had an unofficial snowday aka I was supposed to go to a class but since I commute to school, I decided not to because of the snow.. So here is the next chapter of the story... I know I will update for sure tomorrow... but I haven't finished the story yet and I have a test Wednesday, but I will try and get something written for y'all...Thanks for commenting!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Friday morning, when he got to his locker, he found Troy, Chad, Zeke and Jason standing there waiting for him.

"What did you find out?" Chad asked him.

Ryan looked over his shoulder to verify that none of the girls were around then whispered, "Some sort of catering event next Saturday at 7pm."

"A what?" Chad asked.

"Catering, it's like a portable restaurant," Zeke answered. "But I wonder what the occasion is."

"Who knows," Troy shrugged as Ryan opened his locker. "Hey what's that?" He pointed to a white envelope taped to the shelf of the locker.

"I dunno," Ryan said. He pulled it down and opened it up, read it then showed it to the others.

_Tell Chad to cancel his stupid_

_baseball party. Can't tell you_

_why, but you'll find out soon_

_enough._

"What baseball party?" Jason asked. "I didn't know you were having a baseball party. Why wasn't I-"

"He's not really having a baseball party," Ryan cut him off. "After I overheard my mom and Sharpay talking about this party thing, I decided to have a little fun with Sharpay. So I asked my mom if it was okay for me to go to a baseball party that Chad was having next Saturday."

"And you said you couldn't spy on Sharpay," Chad laughed, slapping Ryan on the back.

"We need to tell them about the party," Sharpay informed Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi and Martha as they held an emergency meeting in Ms. Darbus' office. "Your boyfriend -" she pointed out Taylor "- is throwing some sort of baseball party next Saturday and he invited my brother."

"Chad didn't say anything to me about having a party," Taylor said with a frown. "And I didn't think his mom would let him have another party after the party last year after the championship game..."

"Whatever, all I know is that my brother thinks he's going to Chad's house next Saturday night," Sharpay stated. "I put a note in Ryan's locker telling him to get Chad to cancel the party, but they're going to ask why."

"We could make invitations," Martha suggested. "And put them in their lockers."

"Sounds good," Sharpay nodded. "I'll get somebody from the art department to make them for us. We deliver them Monday after school."

"Uh, what are we supposed to do about this weekend, Sharpay?" Gabriella asked her.

"They can wait two days," Sharpay replied. "Besides, we have an important mission this weekend." The others look at her confused. "Finding our dresses!"

"This is getting out of hand," Taylor sighed as she and Gabriella walked to their first class. "I wish we could back out now."

"I think this will be fun," Gabriella stated. "Sure, it might not be as fun as a double date with just the four of us would have been, but maybe this will make Chad more comfortable with double dating."

"I guess," Taylor shrugged. "But I'm going to tell him my reasoning behind this whole thing before we get there and I really don't want anybody to say anything to him about it. Especially Sharpay… I don't want him to be embarrassed."

"We'll figure something out," Gabriella smiled as they entered the classroom. She and Taylor both stopped when they say Troy and Chad sitting in there.

"Are you two lost?" Taylor asked as she set her bag down next to the desk Chad was sitting on. "Cause last time I checked, this was calculus."

"Just wanted to see you guys," Chad shrugged.

"You have plans tonight?" Troy asked Gabriella. "Cause we thought the four of us could catch a movie or something."

Gabriella and Taylor looked at each other surprised.

"We thought you two would want to see that new movie with Hilary Swank," Chad stated.

"Uh," Taylor glanced at Gabriella, who nodded. "Sure, sounds good."

"Great, I'll pick you up at 6," Chad smiled at her. "Then we'll meet them at the movie theater." He gave her hand a squeeze and gave her a signature wink before he and Troy left the classroom.

"This better work," Troy said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Hey they wanted to go on a double date, so we're giving them a double date," Chad stated. "Let's just hope they take this into account and cancel whatever heinous thing they have planned with Sharpay."

Troy nodded in agreement and they slid into their first class thirty seconds before the bell rang.

As their teacher took role, Chad leaned forward in his desk and whispered, "When have my plans ever failed?"

_All the time_, Troy thought but decided to keep it to himself.

After basketball practice, Chad rushed home to get ready for his date with Taylor. He shaved his face then splashed on some of the cologne Taylor loved. He went into his room and changed into a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt. He shoved his feet into a pair of sneakers then went back into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He took a second to look at his outfit in the mirror then headed for the front door, only to be stopped by his mom walking into the house.

"Big date with Taylor?" She smiled as she hung up her coat.

"Yeah, we're going to see a movie with Troy and Gabriella," Chad answered as he grabbed his leather jacket and pulled it on. "I'll be back later."

"Be home by 11," his mom called after him and Chad gave her a thumbs up as he raced out to his jeep.

"That was such a great movie," Gabriella smiled as she, Taylor, Chad and Troy sat around a table at the ice cream shop.

"Yeah it really was," Taylor agreed as she looked at Chad. "He always picks the best movies."

"The movie was okay, certainly not I would pick to watch by myself," Troy said, picking up his milk shake. "And seriously, I could have continued my life perfectly fine with out see that guy's ass on the screen. I mean seriously, his ass was bigger than my truck!"

Taylor sighed when Chad pushed back his chair and stood up. "Let's go Taylor," he said. "I promised my mom I'd help her move some stuff."

"I'll call you tomorrow, Gabi," Taylor said as she gave her best friend a hug. "We had fun tonight; we'll have to do this again." She turned around and expected to find Troy and Chad doing their special handshake, but only found Troy.

"He said he was going to pull his jeep around to pick you up," Troy informed her. "Is everything okay with him?"

"I don't know," Taylor sighed before leaving the ice cream shop. She waited outside and climbed into the jeep when Chad showed up. "Do we have time to stop at the park before you take me home?"

Chad nodded and they were silent until he parked his car at the park.

Taylor climbed out of the jeep and met him at the front. She took his hand and led him over to the swings.

"Twelve years ago, I was sitting on this very swing swinging my heart out when a stray soccer ball hit me in the back of the head and set me to the ground in tears," she said. "Then two boys helped me up and took me to the school nurse. There was this one boy who held my hand as the nurse cleaned up my scraps and cuts.

"Then for a few years after that, that same boy always seemed to be there when I needed him. But something changed in sixth grade and that boy became somebody completely different, practically overnight-"

"Taylor, I-"

"Shh," she put her finger to his lips. "I really missed that boy, Chad. Then last year, he was suddenly back in my life and we were trying to break up our best friends. And even after our plan worked then backfired majorly, he was still there and he wasn't the jerk he'd been for six years, he was the nice boy that I remembered from elementary school.

"I know everybody in school wants to be your friend because you're popular, Chad. But I want to be your friend because I know the real you. When we're together there's no jockiness, no ego or anything like that in the way and I think that if you were real like this with all your friends you would find that you guys would be closer."

Chad dried the tears from her cheeks and stared into her eyes. "I'll try," he whispered. "For you." He lowered his lips to hers and held her tightly as they kissed.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Note:_** Hey guys! I'm still working on the next chapter, but I'll try to get an update ready for you guys tomorrow. Thanks for all the comments!**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Sunday afternoon, Taylor and Gabriella met at the mall to look for dresses to wear to the dinner party.

"After we left the ice cream shoppe, we went to the park at the elementary school that he, Troy and I went to," Taylor told her. "And I took him over to the swings when we'd first met when he or Troy accidently kicked a soccer ball that hit me in the back of the head.

"Then I reminded him of the sweet boy that he was when we were little and the jerk he became afterwards. Then about how when we worked together last year to break you and Troy up, which I know I've said I'm sorry about like a thousand times, but I'm serious, I'm like way sorry we did that, anyway, I told him that when it came to fix things between the two of you, he became the sweet boy I remembered.

"And I told him that he'd be way closer to his friends if he let them see the real him and didn't always have his jock mask on. And he told me he'd try, for me," she smiled. "Then he kissed me and oh my god, it was like no other kiss he's ever given me, Gabi! We were standing at the very place we met and he was holding me so tightly against his body. It was just way romantic!"

"I wish Troy would kiss me like that," Gabriella sighed as she looked through a rack of dresses. "He's so afraid somebody is going to catch us and he gets flustered."

"It's probably because it took you guys so long to have your first kiss," Taylor stated then quickly added, "Not that that's a bad thing. Everybody does their own thing at their own time. But I'm sure as you guys become closer, you'll have to fight off his kisses in public."

"Yeah, that'll be the day," Gabriella laughed as her checks turned red.

"So maybe Troy Bolton isn't the only one who's a little afraid of public displays of affection," Taylor teased as she nudged her friend.

Chad took a deep breath as he climbed out of his jeep and walked up the path to the Bolton's front door. He rang the doorbell and waited for somebody to answer it.

"Chad? Was the door locked?" Mrs. Bolton asked when she opened the front door and found him standing there.

"I didn't try," Chad shrugged. "Is Troy home?"

"I think he's up in his room," Mrs. Bolton replied. "I was just getting ready to take this bag up there to him, would you mind taking it up for me? There's something in there for you as well."

"What is it?" Chad asked as he took the bag from her.

"Well I ran into Mrs. Evans and she told me about this little thing the girls are planning, so I decided to pick something up for you and Troy," Mrs. Bolton smiled. "I figured you guys could wear them."

Chad watched her walk away then ran up the stairs to Troy's room. He knocked on the door twice then went into the room and set the bag down. "Hey," he greeted Troy, who was laying on his bed playing a video game. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Troy said, pausing his game. "I tried to call you yesterday but you didn't answer your phone."

"I was with my mom," Chad said. "I owe you an apology for the way I acted Friday night and basically for everything I've done since Gabriella and Taylor decided to have the double date. I've been a self-centered idiot and it was all because I didn't want you guys to see how I am around Taylor."

"How are you around Taylor?" Troy asked him.

"I act like I did when we were in elementary school when I'm with Taylor," Chad stated. "And after we left, she laid into me about how I became a jerk after sixth grade and until we tried to break you and Gabi up."

"I wouldn't call you a jerk," Troy said after a second. "But we all changed. Taylor became more studious while we turned to sports. But at least you're realizing this now and not like ten years down the road." He looked at the bag. "What's in there?"

"Your mom ran into Mrs. Evans at the mall," Chad said, picking the bag up. "And apparently Mrs. Evans told her what's going on next Saturday and even though she knows, your mom isn't saying anything. But she bought us both something that she thinks we should wear."

Troy eyed his friend then pulled the tissue paper out of the bag and found two white dress shirts, one with blue stripes and the other with green. He kept the one with blue stripes for himself and handed Chad the one with green stripes.

"Why can't I have the blue one?" Chad asked, teasingly. "You always get the blue stuff."

"I get blue 'cause blue matches my eyes," Troy stated. "Besides, blue is my favorite color and green is yours."

After returning from the mall with her new dress, Sharpay went into her room and hung it up in her closet. Then she sat down at her desk to do her nails, but stopped when she saw the envelope sitting on her desk. She tore it open and smiled as she took the party invitations out.

_You're invited to a dinner party!_

_Meet at East High at 7pm on Saturday_

_Dress nice – slacks, sports coats, dress shirts, dress shoes_

_**NO**__jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts or tennis shoes_

**DO NOT BE LATE**

She clapped her hands then put each invitation into its own envelope that the artist had written their names on. Tomorrow morning, she'd leave for school extra early and talk the janitor into opening the lockers for her so she could deliver the invitations.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Note:_** Well I finally have another update for you guys... sorry that it took so long. If you read the note I posted yesterday you know that I've been sick and while I'm not feeling 100 quite yet, I'm feeling well enough to write. I'm working on the last chapter right now and I hope to be able to post it for you guys tomorrow. So have a great day and thanks in advance for reviewing the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Jason was waiting at Chad's locker when Chad arrived to the school on Monday morning.

"Just so you know, I won't be at your baseball party," Jason informed him. "I was invited to a dinner party."

"Jason, there is _no_ baseball party," Chad shook his head as he opened his locker. "Ryan just told his mom that to make Sharpay mad. Hey what's this?" He pulled the envelope from the shelf in his locker and opened it. "Guess what, I was invited to the dinner party too."

"Of course you were," Jason rolled his eyes. "You're always invited to everything." He threw his hands in the air and stormed off.

"What was that all about?" Taylor asked as she walked up to Chad's locker.

"You don't want to know, believe me," Chad shook his head. "So, I got this in my locker this morning." He held up the invitation. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"It just so happens that I do," Taylor smiled. "But I'm not going to tell you anything, except that I got a totally cute dress for it."

"What color?" Chad asked her.

"Can't tell you, but I know you're going to love it," Taylor giggled as she leaned against the locker next to Chad's and he leaned over to kiss her.

"Ahem," they jumped apart when they heard somebody clear their throat.

"Hey," Troy greeted them. "How's it going?"

Taylor stood up straight and moved so Troy could get into his locker. "I'll see you later, Chad," she said. "Bye Troy."

"You two are chummier than you've been," Troy stated as he opened his locker. He pulled the white envelope off the shelf and opened it then sighed. "So our plan to get whatever they planned with Sharpay canceled failed."

"It might now be too bad," Chad shrugged. Troy paused to look at his friend. "What?"

"What did Taylor do to you on Friday night?" Troy asked him.

"Nothing," Chad replied. "We just talked and made out by the swings at the elementary school."

"Oh cool- wait, did you saw at the _elementary_ school?" Troy asked flabbergasted.

"Yeah, the place where we met after the soccer ball you kicked hit her in the back of the head," Chad nodded.

"Okay, must I point out once again that if you hadn't been picking clovers the ball wouldn't have hit her!" Troy exclaimed.

"Whoa there captain," Chad laughed. "I wasn't blaming you. I mean, you're the reason she's part of my life. So thanks for helping me out in kindergarten, man."

"Mom, we have to think of someway to keep Ryan out of the house all day Saturday," Sharpay said as they shopped for table settings on Tuesdays afternoon. "I don't want him under foot nor do I want him to figure out what's going on."

"You can't kick him out of the house for the day, pumpkin," her mom replied.

"But he'll be in the way," Sharpay whined. "If only there was something for him to do."

"Well, he could have gone to that thing at his curly friend's house had you not forced them to cancel it," Mrs. Evans commented as she picked up a crystal pitcher. "This one is very-"

Sharpay paid no attention to her mother as she whipped out her cell phone and sent Taylor a text message.

_Tell Chad to invite the guys over on Saturday. We'll change the meeting place to his house. Pass it on Shar_

Taylor sighed as she snuggled with Chad as they sat in the living room of her parents' house watching cartoons with her 11-year-old sister Baylee. Taylor had hoped that Baylee would go to a friend's house so she and Cad could be alone, but, of course, the one day she and Chad had nothing to do after school, Baylee's friend had to go to the dentist.

"Baylee, did you get your homework done?" Taylor asked her, hoping she could send Baylee upstairs.

"Uh huh," Baylee replied, her eyes never leaving the TV.

They sat there for another few minutes before Chad whispered, "Meet me in your room." Then he stood and headed for the stairs.

"Where's he going?" Baylee asked, turning around when the show went to commercial.

"Probably to the bathroom," Taylor shrugged. "And he's using the one upstairs because he refuses to use the one down here since he got stuck in there that one time."

"Whatever," Baylee said, turning her attention back to the TV.

Taylor waited until Baylee was completely engrossed in what was happening on TV before she went upstairs. She went into her room and found Chad sitting on her bed.

He stood and met her in the middle of her room. He cupped her chin and was about to kiss her when her cell phone rang.

Taylor smiled apologetically and grabbed the phone off her desk. "It's Sharpay," she rolled her eyes after looking at the caller ID. "It shouldn't take long, hopefully." She hit the go button and said, "Hey Sharpay."

"Did you get my text message?" Sharpay demanded.

"I don't know," Taylor replied. "Chad's here and I-"

"Chad's there? Let me talk to him," Sharpay ordered.

"Okay," Taylor said and held the phone out to Chad. "She wants to talk to you."

"Hi Sharpay," Chad said, cautiously. "What's up?"

"I need you to entertain my brother Saturday," Sharpay informed him. "And he'll need to get ready at your house. Also, we're changing the meeting place from East High to your house."

"Uh ok," Chad responded, still trying to comprehend everything she had said.

"Fabulous! Ryan will be there at noon," Sharpay said before hanging up.

"What did she want?" Taylor asked him.

"I think she's forcing Ryan to hang out with me on Saturday," Chad said, scratching his head. "That girl talks way too fast for her own good."

"Well consider yourself lucky that you won't be stuck with here all day on Saturday," Taylor sighed. "I'd taken Ryan over Sharpay any day." Chad nodded in agreement. "I guess we should get back downstairs before Baylee starts to wonder what we're doing." She opened the door and nearly ran into Baylee.

"You are so busted," Baylee grinned at her sister. "You know you and Chad aren't allowed to be in your room with the door closed."

"Chad, we'll meet you down stairs," Taylor said before yanking her sister into the room.

Chad shook his head and went downstairs. Sometimes he wished he had siblings, but when he saw how annoying his friends' siblings could be, he was glad that he was an only child.

"So we're on to hang out tomorrow afternoon, right?" Chad asked as he and Troy walked to Chemistry on Friday.

"Yup," Troy replied. "Though I'm not sure how we'll be able to do what we usually do because of Ryan." Chad raised an eyebrow. "Because there will be five of us." Troy clarified.

"You can count me out," Zeke said, falling in step with them. "My aunt called me last night and asked me to help her cook for a catering job she has Saturday night."

"So that takes care of one problem," Troy stated. "But I still have no clue what we'll do. I mean, we can't play baseball with only two people on a team and I don't think-"

"We'll figure it out later, Troy," Chad shook his head. "Zeke, I didn't know your aunt had a catering business."

"She started it a few months ago," Zeke shrugged. "She's done several small parties where she's just been doing appetizers, but this time she's doing a dinner party and my uncle usually helps her, but he got called away for business."

"Well have fun with that," Chad nodded. "Just don't be late getting to my house, your girlfriend will freak."

"Why are we meeting at your house, anyway?" Troy asked him.

"Who knows," Chad shrugged. "I asked Taylor the same thing and she said she had no idea and that it was all Sharpay's idea."

"That's what I was afraid you were going to say," Troy sighed.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Note:_** Well this is the last chapter of the story... And I hope you guys like it. I have no plans to write a sequel to it, but I'm thinking about my new story... so thanks for reading and reviewing my story.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

With her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, Sharpay stood by the window in her bedroom and watched her brother climb into his car. Then waited until he drove out of sight before she left her room in search of her mother.

"MOTHER," she yelled as she went downstairs.

"In the kitchen," her mother called back. "What do you need, pumpkin?" She asked when Sharpay entered the room.

"What time are the catering people going to be here?" Sharpay asked her.

"Not until two o'clock," her mother replied. "What time are the girls getting here?"

"They'll be here soon," Sharpay said. "We're going to setup the dinning room and the other room. Then they'll leave around three so I can get ready." She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, but before she could unscrew the lid, the doorbell rang.

"Hey Ryan, come on in," Chad greeted after he opened his front door.

"Hey," Ryan replied. "Thanks for inviting me over..."

"No problem," Chad said, closing the door. "Troy and Jason are downstairs in the basement. You can leave your stuff up here or take it downstairs."

"I'll take it downstairs," Ryan said as he followed Chad. "Do you have a playstation?"

"Yeah," Chad nodded. "You play?"

"I do have a life outside of the drama department," Ryan pointed out. "Besides, it gives me an excuse to hide in my room." He opened his bag. "I brought a game." He held up a baseball game. "Do you have this one?"

"Not yet!" Chad exclaimed, grabbing it. "Come on!" He raced down the stairs. "Troy, turn off the game! Ryan brought a better one!" He tossed the game to Troy.

"Move it a little more to the right," Sharpay instructed as Gabriella, Taylor, Martha and Kelsi moved the dinning room table. "There! It's perfect!"

"Sharpay, this is exactly where it was when we started!" Taylor exclaimed as she took the water bottle Gabriella offered her. "And you could be helping instead of barking orders at us."

"But I got my nails done last night and I don't want them to get ruined," Sharpay replied, holding up her perfectly manicured nails.

"I'll ru-" Gabriella stepped between Taylor and Sharpay before Taylor could do anything.

"Calm down, Taylor," Gabriella said. "But Taylor's right, Sharpay, you need to help us."

"Whatever," Sharpay replied. "We need to set the table now. Kelsi, Martha, come with me."

Taylor crossed her arms as she watched them leave the room. "She is so annoying," she said.

"Taylor, we've gotten this far without any big fights," Gabriella reminded her. "We're leaving in like an hour and when we come back here you'll be so distracted by Chad that you won't notice-" She stopped when Sharpay ran through the dining room. "What the?"

"Where'd Sharpay go?" Taylor and Gabriella turned to find Zeke standing in the dining room.

"Probably her room," Taylor answered.

"Thanks," Zeke said, going in the direction Sharpay went. He ran up the stairs and smiled when he saw a pink door in a hallway of white ones. He knocked on her door.

"Go away!" She called.

"Shar, come on, talk to me," he sighed.

Sharpay opened her door with her mascara running down her cheeks. "It was supposed to be a surprise," she cried. "And now you're going to go and tell them and it'll all be ruined!"

"Shar, I'm not going to tell them anything," Zeke told her.

"You aren't?" She looked up at him surprised.

"Shar, you're my girlfriend," Zeke smiled. "I know this is important to you and you guys have obviously worked really hard to put this all together."

"We have," she nodded.

Zeke grabbed a tissue from her desk and handed it to her. "You okay, now?" He asked her. Sharpay nodded. "Good. Now I'm going to go back downstairs and help my aunt cook."

"Okay," Sharpay replied. "Oh and Zeke?" He turned to look at her. "Stay in the kitchen, okay?"

"You got it," he said before leaving the room.

Sharpay went into her private bathroom and washed her face. She took a deep breath then went back downstairs. When she walked into the dining room, she found the other girls setting the table.

"You okay?" Gabriella asked her.

"Yeah," Sharpay nodded. "How'd you guys know how I wanted the table set?"

"Your mom found your drawing," Taylor replied, holding up a piece of notebook paper. "Then we went from there."

"How does it look?" Martha asked Sharpay.

Sharpay looked around and smiled her approval. "It looks fabulous," she said. "Good work."

"I hate suits," Chad grumbled as he sat in the living room in the dress shirt Troy's mom had bought him and his boxers. His mom had flipped and demanded that she iron his dress pants when she'd seen how wrinkled they were. "They're so uncomfortable." Ryan nodded in agreement as the doorbell rang. "You wanna get that and if it's one of the girls, warn me first."

"Sure," Ryan replied. He walked to the front door and opened the front door. "Hey Troy."

"Let me guess, Chad's doing his hair?" Troy smiled as he came into the house.

"I heard that, Bolton," Chad called from the other room.

Troy laughed and followed Ryan into the room where Chad was. "Why aren't you wearing pants?" He asked his best friend.

"Because they were wrinkled," Chad's mom said coming into the room with Chad's pants as Ryan left the room to answer the door again.

"Thanks mom," Chad said, grabbing the pants. He was pulling them up when he heard snickers. He looked over his shoulder and saw Taylor and Gabriella standing in the doorway with Ryan, Zeke and Jason. He finished putting the pants on as his face burned bright red.

"Taylor, Gabriella, your dresses are beautiful," Chad's mom smiled. "And I just noticed that they're the same colors as the stripes on Chad and Troy's shirts. Very cool."

Chad smiled as Taylor walked over to him, her knee length green dress with thick straps, a deep V-neck with a thick band of material just under the bust swaying as she walked.

"Cute boxers," she smiled. "Frogs are my favorite animal." Chad's face reddened again. She reached out and touched the collar of his shirt. "Mrs. Bolton was right, this shirt looks great on you."

"How'd you guys know about the shirts?" Troy asked as he wrapped his arm around Gabriella's waist. "She said she ran into Mrs. Evans."

"We ran into your mom after we bought our dresses," Gabriella told him as she adjusted the straps of her simple spaghetti-strapped blue dress that fell just above her knees. "After we told her what we were doing, we showed them to her then she decided that she wanted to buy you guys shirts to match our dresses. So then the three of us went to one of the department stores and found your shirts."

"I don't know how I feel about you and my mom shopping for me," Troy stated. "Or the whole thing about you two being sneaky together."

"She's already asked me to help her with your Christmas presents," Gabriella told him.

"What?" Troy's jaw dropped.

"Just kidding," Gabriella giggled.

"Kelsi?!" Jason exclaimed, causing the others to look in his direction. His mouth was wide open and he was staring at a timid looking Kelsi who was wearing a silver dress, with medium black straps, an empire waist and a thick black band around the bottom.

"Kelsi, you look amazing," Taylor told her. "But that dress seems so-"

"Sharpay?" Kelsi asked and Taylor nodded. "She took me shopping yesterday since I still hadn't found a dress. She made me try it on and I don't know, I kinda like it."

"It's really pretty," Jason told her. "It's shiny like a pop can."

"Thanks," Kelsi laughed.

"You look really pretty too," Ryan told Martha, who was dressed in a black wrap dress with a ribbon tied around her waist.

"Thanks," Martha smiled.

"So it's seven, where's Sharpay?" Chad asked.

Before anyone could answer, they heard a loud honk. They looked at each other then headed for the front door.

"Oh my god," they all gasped when they got outside and saw Sharpay standing in the sun roof of a white stretch Hummer limo. Her pink halter dress shimmered in the sun.

"No freaking way!" Chad exclaimed as he and Troy high fived.

"Come on!" Sharpay exclaimed as she ducked back into the vehicle.

The driver opened the door and the others piled into the limo.

"This is way cool!" Troy grinned as he sat down next to Gabriella. "I can't believe you got us a limo!"

"My dad's friend owns a company," Sharpay shrugged. "He gave us a good deal."

"So where are we going?" Jason asked.

"You'll see," the girls chorused.

"Why are we here?" Ryan asked when the limo stopped in front of his and Sharpay's house.

"You'll see," Sharpay told her brother.

"I'm really beginning to dislike that phrase," Chad shook his head.

Once they were all out of the limo, Sharpay and Zeke led them into the house. While she led the others into the living room, Zeke slipped into the kitchen to find out if the food was ready. He returned a couple minutes later and gave Sharpay a gentle nod.

"Okay, so for the past two weeks, the girls and I have been planning something special for you guys," Sharpay said.

"And driving us crazy," Chad muttered and grunted when Taylor elbowed him in the rib.

"We wanted to show you guys how much we care about you," Sharpay said. "So we decided to throw a dinner party."

She led the others into the dining room and they all sat down at the table, where their hors d'oeuvres were already waiting for them.

"Zeke, how'd that catering thing go today?" Troy asked.

"You tell me," Zeke smiled, sending a wink in Sharpay's direction. "My aunt and I catered this."

"You knew and didn't tell us!" Chad exclaimed.

"I found out today," Zeke replied. "Besides, the girls worked really hard to get this whole thing setup. I didn't want to ruin their surprise." He smiled. "Besides, we all know that you wouldn't have told if Taylor had told you. Cause you're a softy when it comes to Taylor."

Chad looked at his girlfriend and nodded. "True," he grinned. He slipped his hand under the table and pulled Taylor's chair closer to his. She laughed and leaned against him.

Chad let his eyes graze over the table and saw each of his friends having private conversations with their girlfriends. It was then than that he realized that when it came to dealing with their girlfriends, his best friends were different guys too. And the girls were different as well.

Sharpay was actually listening to Zeke, who was explaining how he made their dinner, sharing secrets of his recipe that he wouldn't have shared with anyone else. Kelsi seemed to enjoy Jason's off wall comments and stupid questions and Jason was hanging off every word she said. Ryan and Martha were talking their weird dance language that nobody else seemed to understand and Gabriella and Troy were sharing private jokes, when they weren't staring into each others eyes.

Chad turned his attention to Taylor and smiled at her.

"What are you thinking Chad Danforth?" She asked.

"About how I dumb I was to think that this wasn't going to be fun," he admitted.

"It was pretty dumb," Taylor agreed. "But this is really fun, too. I still think Sharpay's a bit of a nut job, but everything has worked out great."

After eating their dinner, they sat around the table telling embarrassing childhood stories, including the story about the day Chad and Taylor met. They snacked on chocolate covered fruits and sipped sparkling apple cider as they laughed and teased each other.

Shortly before ten, Sharpay's mom came into the room and informed them that it was time for everybody to go home because the limo rental would be over in thirty minutes.

When they arrived at Chad's house, they said goodbye and soon it was just Chad and Taylor standing in front of his house with her wearing his jacket over her shoulders.

"You wanna come in for some ice cream or something?" Chad asked her.

"I'm still full from dinner," she smiled. "Besides, I need to get home before curfew."

"Yeah, curfew," Chad sighed as he put his hand on the small of her back and walked her over to her car. He punched the code into the keypad on her door thus unlocking the door, which he then opened.

"Thanks," she said as she leaned against the car. "I'll bring your jacket back tomorrow."

"Uh, Taylor," Chad said as he felt his stomach knot up.

"Yeah?" She asked, looking up to meet his eyes.

"I just want to tell you that I, um," he stammered. "That, I love you."

A smiled spread across Taylor's face. "I love you, too, Chad," she said. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her. "I love you, a lot."

He put his hands on the car on either side of her head and lowered his lips to hers. He lowered his hands down to her hips and they remained with him pressing her into the car until the garage door opened.

Chad looked up and saw his mom standing behind her car, in her pink robe, tapping her wrist. He sighed and stood up straight.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Taylor said. "Maybe we can meet up with Troy and Gabriella for lunch."

"Whatever you want," Chad replied. They said their goodbyes and exchanged 'I love yous' one more time before he walked up to the garage where his mom was sitting standing. He watched as Taylor drove out of sight before he followed his mom into the house, happy to admit that not all of his plans worked out the way he planned.

To view the girls' dresses copy and paste the following links into your internet browser or go to my profile for links you can just click.

Kelsi's - http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?imagekelsiwh3.jpg

Gabriella's - http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?imagegabriellamo2.jpg

Sharpay's - http://img262.imageshack.us/my.php?imagesharpaycc9.jpg

Martha's - http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?imagemarthagw9.jpg

Taylor's - http://img262.imageshack.us/my.php?imagetaylorid1.jpg


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